I signed up because it was my birthday. What a perfect way to celebrate! Also, this was the first big-city race I've seen in the Northwest actually on a Saturday. I don't run Sundays, so I was thrilled. I enjoyed this race immensely, once I got there. Good positive vibes. The race lived up to its name. The headliner concert was a great way to end the day. Of course, the weather really made it special. The volunteer support was second to none. Even the neighbors in the Seward Park neighborhood were super friendly. I really enjoyed the variety on the course. Not too many freeways come out of a tunnel with such stunning views. The lake was beautiful, and the finish area was organized very, very well.

Now for the complaints, keeping in mind that it was the first year. Parking costs and getting to the start line caused a lot of stress and made me late, even though I thought I allowed myself plenty of extra time. My children drove 14 hours to see me finish. They had such troubles getting downtown that they made it to the finish area only 2 minutes before I finished. Good thing I wasn't faster.

I was supposed to be in the 7th start group. I ended up in the 27th because of traffic delays. My husband wanted to drop me off from south of the start line (away from the city). It took one and a half hours to drive about five miles to get to the start line. The access was extremely bottle-necked. I was tempted to jog it. I saw other runners leaving their cars on the freeway and jogging to the race. Sorry, but 5 miles is a bit too long of a warm up for me. Here would be my suggestion for next year. Have the people in the south end of Seattle be dropped off at the mall close to the start line. Shuttles should run from the mall parking lot to the start line. There is a lot more freeway and back road access to the mall, with several entrances.
Then there were the parking costs.

We paid $10 for parking to pick up the packet, and we barely made it in time before the expo closed. They should have held packet pick up until 8:30 or 9 to allow local people to get off from work, and to avoid the rush hour traffic. Race day, parking was $20 for spectators, and anywhere we ate in town, we paid for more parking (if we could find it). Then we paid $5 for parking at the concert, which was another hour drive away (with traffic)

So maybe this is just the price I pay for doing a city marathon? I would pay it again, however, because I really enjoyed it, in spite of the stress. But if I ever get fast enough to really be competitive, I will definitely get to everything three hours early.

The course was not as exciting as I had anticipated. It seems like there are a lot of neat places to see in Seattle, and we did not see those! And it was also a bit hilly (plus hot this day!). But the few waterfront sections were great to be near. Also, I enjoyed passing by runners on the other side of the road a few times. It's nice to see pals and say hi to those who were way ahead of me and way behind me, so I thought that was a good way to set it up. I would probably give it a 3.5 out of 5 overall for the course.

Organization was not the best. Packet pick-up was a costly hassle, and race-morning parking could have been another costly hassle (all of the lots were like $20 and/or far away). More shuttle options and better parking availability is in order. Pre-race morning was pretty good, with plenty of fluid and fuel. The course organization was also ok, though a few stations had watery-tasting Cytomax, and there was really no solid food along the course (like fruit or pretzels), even though there usually is. The post-race area was also ok, with fruit, drinks, and snacks. BUT we were NOT able to get our FREE BEER, since many of us did not have ID, and they would not let us use our shoe tags for age, as previous races have!!! Bummer in the summer!!!

Spectators were pretty great as always, although music was not the best. For a first-time big event, it went over well, and I'm sure will be bigger and better next year!

I loved the first half; it was scenic, along the water, with beautiful views. We even saw a Bald Eagle sitting atop one of the pine trees on the water. What a treat!

I did not particularly care for the second half as much. There was too much concrete (poison for legs), it was not very pretty, and it was not shaded. The last two complaints are minor, but the first one is a biggie. I do not believe a marathon should be run mostly on concrete (the freeways). If they could re-route the second half (maybe around Lake Washington some more?), I would give the course a higher score.

EXCELLENT volunteer support! PLENTY of port-a-potties, water stations, and aid stations. It was high energy, and I loved the bands.

If I do this one again, I will stick with the half.

The course was scenic, but definitely one of the hilliest and most difficult courses I have done, after 39 marathons in 21 states!! The spectators were also few and far in between, since the majority of the course was either outside Seattle or on bridges or inside tunnels!!

The course needs work! You reach mile 23, find yourself right at the finish line, and have to go three more miles out-and-back before you're done. Oh that's not all: those last three miles are incredibly boring, running along the top of a five story-tall highway viaduct. Let me mention that you have to go down to ground level, turn around, and at mile 25, go back up 5 stories to the top of the highway, only to come back down to the finish, when your legs are absolutely wasted from the challenging course. On top of that, you are running on a road that runs between the freight docks and an active railroad yard - not showcasing Seattle's best scenery for sure. It's certainly demoralizing. This would not be such a gripe if this had been absolutely necessary, but there could have a loop added across lake union at mile 19 - or just go farther out on that out-and-back stretch.

Granted this is a first-year race and courses always get tweaked after the race matures, but this one really needs it. I can't imagine the runner who planned that ending to the race, and I hope there are some stronger influences to modify it in future years.

OK - off of my soap box and on to other points.

The course is challenging, with lots of hills. (It is Seattle, after all.) But I like hills and knew what to expect. The segment along Lake Washington was beautiful! And the out-and-back across the floating bridge was nice - and I don't like out-and-backs.
I liked the meeting back up with the half-marathoners at mile 12, but it could really get you off your pace, and it could get crowded. I was in the top 60 and I had to duck and weave during those three miles, so I am sure that it got worse behind me.

I found the band in the tunnel annoying and could not understand a word; I could not even tell it was a band playing until I saw them. But the music was much better than some other RnR events (I have run 4 others).

The expo was first-class - par for RnR events. Packet pick-up for me was quick and efficient.

It will be easier next year to stay away from downtown because the light rail line to the airport will be complete and you can take it to the expo and the race start.

The shuttle system was awesome. The number of porta-potties was excellent. I liked the location of the start in Tuckwilla - Starbucks was open before start of race!!

The t-shirt was very nice, and not white like the majority of other tech tees.

One other note: the marathon was thin, even though the half was much more crowded. So don't look for pack help in running the full at this race; it will be somewhat solitary.

I have run other Rock & Roll events before, so I knew to expect a top-quality experience. However, this was by far the most well-organized big-city marathon in which I have participated. Of course, it helped that the weather was terrific.

Highlights:
- The course was not perfect, but it was darn good. A few miles along Lake Washington was a real treat. The band playing in the first tunnel was really a neat experience - tons of runners and loud music echoing in the tunnel.
- Abundant goodies at the start and finish. It was typical bananas/bagel/drink (with a few other items at the finish).
- Uncrowded finish area - a pleasant surprise.
- Bus service from the parking lot to the start line was superb.

The only annoyance was packet pick-up. For me, that was a major hassle. I was not staying downtown, so I had to drive in to pick up my bib and chip. The signage to the Qwest Center and parking were pretty much non-existent (this is the city's fault - not the race organizer's), and traffic was miserable on Friday. In all, it took me 2 hours and $10 in parking to pick up my packet. I strongly recommend taking the race-day pickup option, if not staying near Qwest Center.

I am very pleased to have been part of the inaugural Seattle RNR Marathon. I thought it was very smooth, considering that it was in its first year. Seattle is a fabulous city to visit. It would have been nice to have had cloud cover on race day, but it ended up being in the 70's with full sun. That was okay; the constant sea breeze kept it from getting too hot.

Expo was well-organized, though parking was a pain. Next time I would take the bus. I had a ride to the start line, so can't speak for the organization of the shuttles. I can say that the start area was very well-organized with the most porta-potties I've ever seen, and 33 corrals released in a wave start.

The first half of the course has some hills, but nothing too bad. It goes through a gorgeous residential area, and then drops down for about 3 miles on a waterfront bike path with great views of Mt. Ranier. Then the marathoners split from the half-marathoners for a 3-mile out-and-back on a bridge. Marathoners rejoin the half-marathoners at Mile 12, and that was a little bit of a pain, because the half-marathoners we were merging with were quite a bit slower than we were, and the merging area was a narrow on-ramp. But overall, it was not too bad. We ran through downtown, which was packed with enthusiastic spectators and gave a much-needed energy boost.

The hill on the Alaskan Way Viaduct was long and very difficult (for me, anyway). Also, it was hard to pass the turn-off for the finish and still have 3 more miles to run on one last out-and-back (that also included an uphill just before the finish). But those are tiny complaints compared to the overall experience, which was fantastic. I can't quite rate the course 5 stars, because of its difficulty, but it was 5 stars in every other way - especially the scenery.

Also, this is my 3rd RNR marathon and definitely my favorite as far as the music. These bands pretty much all rocked, which has not been my experience at other RNR marathons.

Great job, Seattle! Overall, one of my best marathon experiences.

The inaugural race was a stunning debut. A sold-out race. Festive race-day atmosphere. A very well organized start area, and the race actually started on time. You could tell everyone was really looking forward to this race. I will always remember the cheer that went up as the runners approached the first band on the course. Beautiful scenery along the course, especially the part along the lake. A good number of spectators at the lake and in downtown. The finish line festival was a real celebration and also well organized. They handed out the heaviest finisher's medal I have ever received. A great post-race concert by Keb Mo topped off the day. Congrats to Elite for successfully putting it on. It was what a Rock 'N Roll Marathon should be.